So, you want your employees to be engaged in your organization’s growth. But, do your leaders and managers know how to get them there? Ask yourselves these questions to find out.

Empowering managers to engage employees:

1. How do your managers acknowledge performance? Do they give their team members clear information on what is expected of them? Do they reward good performance?
2. Do your managers remove obstacles preventing the employees from growing and doing their job? Do they offer support and training?
3. Do your managers listen to their employees, treat them with respect and understand them?

Companies that want to grow have to first engage their top managers and leaders by providing them with the knowledge of challenges that face the entire workforce.

Showing strong strategic leadership:

4. Do you know what challenges your company faces and how to handle them?
5. Can you communicate your company’s strategy and how to get there?
6. Do you offer opportunities for team member questions and feedback?

Be sure your leaders can explain the path your company is on, why changes might be needed and how the team fits into the bigger picture.

Informing employees and giving them voice:

7. Do you offer a place that employees can go to review the challenges your company faces and how you’re handling them?
8. Do you regularly ask your employees for their opinion on decisions to be made?
9. Do you follow up on these opinions? If not, do you explain why?

Growth requires knowledge and the opportunity to voice opinions. Employees with these opportunities will be beneficial in the transformation of your organization.

Embedding integrity at the heart of what you do:

10. Does your company have a defined set of values understood by everyone in the organization?
11. Do your managers know how to translate these values into their every day actions?
12. Are changes being made within your organization in a consistent way?

Team members must have the company’s integrity at heart with everything they do. As changes occur, holding true to the company’s core values will ensure your employees are the right ones for the job.

Engaging employees is a tough job. It takes constant work and attention. But, the rewards of having engaged employees in your company far outweigh the obstacles in getting there.

Article information from “Transformation through employee engagement: Meeting the public services challenge.” from CBI The Voice of Business by Susan Anderson, Director of Public Services and Skills CBI and Nita Clarke Director of the IPA.